just like that
You know, you don't see with your eyes
You see with your brain
And the more words your brain has
The more things you can see
Yes yes y'all, it don't stop, it can't stop, it won't stop
We used to be there rapping on the block
It was like hip-hop would never stop
But then we all got older, and a little bit bolder
The streets of New York got a little bit colder
I'm a young dude, I gotta learn and get over
1980, Brooklyn is crazy in the dark
But there I am in Wingate Park
Jamming to the DJs creating this art
I'm on E, but I'm free and I wanna be part
So I gotta be smart and then it just sparked
I'mma start with my heart, achieving the mark
Of being the number one MC on the chart
So on your mark get ready go
I Rock Steadied the show with DJ Scott La Rock, you already know
Yo, these were the days when bands were elected
Based on the jams they selected so check it
This man got respected
When fans detected that the South Bronx
Was the new answer record
And just like that, just like that, just like that
I speak into the air and
Just like that, just like that, just like that
My dreams they did appear so
Just like that, just like that, just like that
You speak into the air and
Just like that, just like that, just like that
Your dreams they will appear so
Just like that I was right on top
Me and Scott La Rock but then Scott La Rock got shot
I can hear him echoing: "hip-hop don't stop"
But we was getting robbed like a bank with no lock
By a record company that was taking a lot
People blaming us and shaming us, but then it all stopped
When By All Means Necessary dropped
It was like the whole damn hip-hop culture stopped
But that's when the vultures dropped, from the culture shock
Because we was showing people how they supposed to rock
With their hands in the air and they mouth on scream
But in '81 this was just a dream
But we kept dreaming, kept decreeing, kept seeing
Kept being hip-hop, breaking, MCing
Graffiti writing, DJing on the weekend
It's the proper use of your mind I'm teaching
Just like that, I began to see
The true force and the power of M-I-N-D
Now I am free and yes I can be
The amazing MC I saw in 81
Back then I was the crazy one
Even the lazy one, the not sure, the maybe one
Now today I'm the sure one, the on tour one
The raw one, the one you want more from
But it was all a dream
Now this brother's on the cover of Word Up magazine
Hanging fliers on my wall
Boogie Down Productions vs MC Shan and Marley Marl
You know my tape rocks, I don't say pop
If I couldn't find OE, then I got the Private Stock
Way back where them Dapper Dan jackets at
With the hat to match, all that
Just like that, now it's '91
And the West Coast Era now has just begun
And you can't run, crack cocaine affects everyone
Now we know the military, they brought in several tons
Forget them old guns they brought in better ones
The name of this new game is stack your set of ones
For me I remember 1981
When I first wanted to rap it was mainly fun
But hip-hop was made to run
So them dudes that think it's all about money their day will come
And it comes for many, and it's scary
To learn your whole career was really temporary
But on the contrary we can look at the past
And see the major recording artists that didn't last
But here comes the blast, in order to last
Be the real you, man, take off the mask